Spring Break may be ending at many Virginia colleges but the campaign against the recent actions by Attorney General Cuccinelli (photograph) is just beginning. Virginia's leading law enforcement officer has demanded that Virginia institutions of higher learning immediately repeal all protections for LGBT students and professors. This effort comes on the heel of Governor McDowell removing protections for LGBT state employees. The governor has now issued a directive but it has no legal standing and refuses to reinstate the original order.

But the university students in that state are not having it.

The protests against these actions are growing rapidly. A campaign begun by University of Mary Washington Student Eric Steigleder has now enrolled over 12,000 others from schools throughout the state. The indefatigable Eric, on his own campus, collected 1,200 signatures of students and professors in just two days. As students return from Spring Break, those numbers are expected to dramatically climb higher.

Facebook pages to oppose this effort are collecting an amazing number of students signing up to protest Cuccinelli. Just look at some of the numbers;

Casey Allen Sears is leading the student effort at William and Mary. He has been receiving death threats for his work and with assistance from Get Equal, police have been brought in to investigate them. Casey has not lost his sense of humor and you must watch the video at the end. You can send letters of support to Casey at casey.allen.sears@gmail.com . Let him know how much we love his courage and bravery.

On March 23rd, the attorney general is speaking at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia. The student organizers are asking all that are able in the Virginia and Washington DC area come and join them. The key organizer for the event is Cathryn Oakley and she can be reached at cathryn.oakley@gmail.com . David Fleck and Robin McGeeHee of Get Equal are working around the clock to help in any way they can. David is on the case every day; Robin is meeting with a coalition of students this week. Demonstrations are set for March 18th at William and Mary and for April 1st at Longwood University.

The attorney general, by the way, has once again made clear that his original letter stands according to Towleroad.com.

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Comments

David, something has been lost in all the uproar over this issue. Virginia's state workers have never had any legal protection from job discrimination. The previous executive orders were not legally enforceable either.

Until Virginians demand that the legislature change the laws of the commonwealth, we'll have to live with the status quo. This will never happen unless LGBT Virginians find the backbone to stand up for our rights.

We knew what we were getting with McDonnell and Cuccinelli and we allowed them to win by not showing up on election day. We have only ourselves to blame. Perhaps these events will be a catalyst for change.

I would like to correct some of your reporting. The lead organizer for the Mary Washington Campaign was Brendon Bottle (PRISM's current president). Eric helped out for sure, but Brendon lead the effort.

Thanks for reporting on this David. I live in Washington, DC, and I will go out to Arlington, VA next Tuesday to protest at the GMU School of Law. Ken Cuccinelli needs to get everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him.